In December I went to the Master Brewers Association of America Christmas Party with my parents and met the brew master of one of the really popular local breweries here. We got to talking a little bit and turns out we had a lot more in common than our love for beer. He makes jewelry!
He started telling me about some of the things he has made and different processes and techniques he has learned and I became completely and totally inspired. I had been thinking about taking a metalsmithing class for a long time, but meeting this guy threw me over the edge and I started my research right away.
In St. Louis we are lucky enough to have this fabulous art supporting organization called Craft Alliance. I had heard of them before, had been in their shop, and knew they taught classes, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. I got home, got on their site, started reading about their classes, and finally got around to signing up to the first session I could get in on.
The first class was last night and I am already OBSESSED. My teacher is a metalsmith jewelry maker, who I LOVE (her work is HERE), and there are 6 other women in the class. 4 of us make jewelry or have jewelry experience.
In the first class we learned about stamping, filing, finishing, patinas, annealing, printing on metal with a press, and sawing. There might be more, but I can't remember...it was a 3 hour class and there was a ton of information. There are 5 classes left and besides being so exciting for the next class, I am already looking forward to signing up for the next session!
Last night we made copper bracelets and I used the rolling method to pattern my cuff. Here are some pics of my process:
.....some more steps I didn't take pics of go right here (pressing the cuff, annealing, buffing, and modling are all missing)....
And....TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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